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The Battle of Axony
The Battle of Axony was one of the largest battles in the Reichlandian Wars. in which the total amount of participating soldiers was over 966,000 men with another 200,000 participates of camp-followers,priest,scavengers,tribals,native mythical creatures,local villagers, and blood thirsty bandits. Prelude of The Battle Before the battle several incidents had occurred that would begin the four year long battle. The first being the Fracture of the Eastern Sovereign Alliance after a dispute over who would take the prestigious city of Gold Peak. The conflict started when Alexander Clement had killed a Warlord in the region named Jaina Corel in 1605 A.T.F during The First Battle For Gold Peaks. After Alex had killed Jaina he had secured a vast amount of land which many of the members of the Alliance saw this as a power grab while others already had claims on the other parts of land Alexander had seized control over. During the massive infighting Tarkhan Avskuro had taken the opportunity and stormed the province of Mordhau obliterating The Kingdom of Mordhau, only taking under a month to do so. This alarmed many of the leaders of the Alliance who immediately stopped their infighting and decided to plan a meeting in the small province of Axony. However a traitor in the meeting had leaked the information to Tarkhan (Many assumed it was Barnes Barlcay as he left shortly when the battle started, others pointed to Konrad Kalson who expressed ideas of working with the Yuraks while, others blamed Tyler Roystan after he publicly announced he would only spectate the battle and rumors of a royal marriage between the Polanii King and a Yurak Princess). After finding out this information The Yuraks marched over 406,000 men to Axony however thanks to a mercenary named Captain Halfdan the Alliance was able to summon as additional troops before the Yuraks arrived. The Start of The Battle In the year of 1607 A.T.F troops from the Yurak Horde had finally passed through The Glasgov Mountains and had begun to set up of series of camps miles around the edge of the inner mountain range and along the valley that led down to the exact location of the battle (The valley is known as Glasgov Valley, the Valley was surrounded by a series of tall mountains). While the Yuraks began to set up their camps the Alliance had finally received their last amount of reinforcements from Gold Peak consisting of nearly 180,000-200,000 men on The Donnington Armada. Both sides entrenched their selves in the Glasgov Valley setting up camps,fortifications,raiding outpost and securing their supply lines. The Yuraks held their position in the Western Side of the Valley while the Alliance held the Eastern side of the Valley. On Juna the 15th 1607 A.T.F the first engagements began with a small skirmish near The Glasgov river between two foraging parties sparking the first wave of advances on both sides. The First Engagement ''' The first engagement of forces was at the Glasgov River. The conflicted started when two foraging parties encountered each other and engaged each other shooting arrows and lead at each other. Eventually Alexander Clement and Evan Woodsley caught wind of the engagement and moved their troops (roughly 25,000-35,000 men) to the River. Scouts from the Yuraks saw a huge movement of troops and warned Tarkhan of the incoming attack. Tarkhan ordered his a regional commander Walt Vanheesem to take nearly 10,000 heavy cavalrymen and push the advancing infantry back. Walt was able to successfully rout the much larger army lead by Evan and Alexander by advancing a much smaller contingent of men to the front lines to distract the Alliance while sending another contingent of men around the river and slamming into the pike and shot lines from behind sending much of the Donnigton lines into a panic. This would be one of many defeats in the four year long battle the Alliance would receive due to the heavy cavalry of Acrabian Mercenaries that the Yuraks fielded. '''Early Years of The Battle The first early years during the battle were the worst for the Alliance as the Yuraks pushed deeper and deeper into the Glasgov Valley. Each defeat was handed over on a plate of dead bodies. The loss of life became so discouraging even Alexander Clement with his famous title "The Defiant" commented in his personal journal "For every handful of the bastards we kill, they take a whole regiment of us with them!". Finally in the year of 1609 A.T.F during the late summer a scientist and heavy loyalist to the Alliances cause named Doctor Hans Fuhrer had developed a plague that specifically targeted the blood system of horses. This disease known as "Hanzentimers" would infect the horse through its intake of food or through any sort of fluids. Then the Bacteria would then latch on to the side of the blood vesicles inside of the horse eating away at the blood vesicle until it broke causing the horses to die of internal bleeding. The death rate was as high as 17/20 horses and it only took a few days before the Bacterial Virus would kill the horse. This virus was approved for military use by King Alexander (with the reluctant agreement of the rest of the members of alliance especially by Odin who found this very dishonorable) and was put into action. They poured dozens of gallons of water infected with the bacteria into the river and even infected their own horses and led them to the enemy pretending to have "lost their horses" only for the enemy to take it to their camps and allow the bacteria to spread. By early spring of 1610 A.T.F the combined harsh winter of the Axony Region and the highly contagious Hanzentimers Virus had obliterated the Yuraks horse supply and the Alliances horse Supply alike. Now with no horsemen the Alliance had a level playing ground,while still being outnumbered the Alliance had the Technological advantage. Odin Afruthul's Push In the summer of 1610 A.T.F (roughly between Mayarii-Jula) Odin had requested that He,Konrad Karlson,Samuel Karlson, and Kendra Blakely move nearly 100,000+ troops to advance and recapture the center part of the valley to secure the vital farms needed to supply the army for the next winter. Alexander Clement accepted this idea and gave command of a force made up mostly swordsmen,pikemen, and line infantry to Odin. Odin ordered that the Karlson Brothers push further south in the valley and secure the river that poured out between the mountains so that shipments of new supplies could arrive. The Kalrlson brothers took a smaller force of 10,000 men and marched up stream successfully burning down raider outpost and eventually after weeks of skirmishes and fighting had taken the river end securing a vital strategic point allowing the first supplies of fresh troops,food,and weapons in over a year to the Alliances forces. Mean while Kendra Blakely was tasked with rallying the peasants of the Center part of the valley to rise up against their Yuraks lords who used them to supply their armies with food (Seeing the Glasgov Pass had been sealed shut by massive ice caps). Kendra was unable to gather enough support to cause a rise in the peasants but she gained the attention of a disgruntled Warlord named Ivan Bogun Hmelnitiski-Avskura also known as Ivan The Khans Raider. Ivan Bogun was angry when he learned that his brother Taichu-Karha Avskura was going to inherit the throne. Kendra offered Ivan a chance at power stating if the Alliance won this battle their remaining forces would move to Reichlandia and seize the capitol putting him as the Ruling Khan of the Yurak Horde. Ivan pondered on this idea and switched his soldiers to the Alliances side for nearly a year. His father Tarkhan was enraged, but more hurt than anything else at this betrayal. Ivan added nearly 60,000 troops plus the remaining 70,000-90,000 troops Odin had with him as they pushed deeper and deeper into the valley. Finally by the winter of 1610 A.T.F Odin was ordered to stop as his task had been completed and he needed to "hunker down" for the winter. Thus ending the Legendary Odin Afruthul's Push. The Madman's Push Tarkhan being enraged ordered his son to levy every known man in all of Reichland and to march them to the Glasgov Valley and he ordered them bring the secret weapons to blow through the thick ice caps that blocked the passage ways. These "Secret" weapons where 12 pounder Brettish Slug-N-Tug Canons. Taichu following the orders of his father moved this army of levies through the mountains and successfully blowing through the ice caps blocking the way. The army was estimated to have been between 40,000 men to some reports saying it reached well over 100,000. As soon as the army reached the main camp near the far Western Edge of the mountains he began the "Mad mans Push". He immediately pushed all of his men forward during the winter of 1611 A.T.F hoping to catch the Alliances army off guard with overwhelming force. However this push was a complete disaster as the artillery trains were bogged down due to the storm and the horse began to die due to a lack of food or due to the remnants of the Hanzentimers Disease. Eventually Tarkhan became so desperate for a final push that he offered his son Ivan Khan if he would turn his forces back to his side. Ivan feeling pity for his father and with most of his men disgruntled on his decision switched sides only to leave the battle a week later with the rest of his men to stabilize his fiefdoms. Tarkhan had now lost nearly 300,000+ troops and his final push was defeated when Evan Woodsely and Alexander Clement pushed his forces back in a engagement near the Center of the Glasgov Valley. The Final Stage of The Battle The final Push came in the late summer of 1611 A.T.F when The Karlson Brothers,Kendra,Alexander Clement, and Odin all pushed with nearly 120,000 men against 150,000 men lead by Tarkhan. The engagement was bloody lasting for nearly twenty seven days there was no strategy,no formations,no order, only chaos. One soldier reported "I couldn't tell who was who...some men had been fighting for so long they had full beards,some had no shirts or shoes, some of the men even had their Brest plate rust to a point where it was as useful as ply wood". Finally on Augustii the 2nd 1611 A.T.F Tarkhans forces were defeated and Tarkhan was killed in battle supposedly fighting off the famous guard unit of Alexander Clement named "The Golden Guard" reportedly killing eleven men before he was gutted by the overwhelming amount of soldiers who surrounded him. Aftermath of The Battle The last pockets of fighting and all around resistance in the region was rooted out by Febuarii the 23rd 1611 A.T.F with the last engagement being a band of Bandits raiding Alliance baggage trains. The total amount of deaths in the battle was over 700,000+ dead on both sides. It is estimated nearly 67% percent of those deaths were due to hypothermia,disease,and undernourishment. Out of the 506,000 man army fielded by the Yuraks only a small few escaped the battle with their lives and even fewer escaped the entire region from the Cannibal tribals known as The Glasgov Tribes and the Ice Trollz (It is reported little under 4,000 Yuraks made it out of the Glasgow Valley). After the Battle Two lords were captured The lord Walt Vanheesem and Tolui Avskuro. The rest of the commanders and lords were able to escape the battle. Alexander Clement quickly dealt with the captured lords putting them to the chopping block. However Alexander with hatred and blood in his eyes began to make plans to move to the capitol. However all of his lords and allies convinced him that now was the time to rest. Many children had lost their fathers,many men needed to return home to their families, and many wife's had lost their husbands all of the pain and suffering pleased the unholy gods..Alexander agreed with his men looking out towards the capitol and looking back on the Valley seeing torches lit from the local populace as people from all over Reichland came to bury the dead. No one felt happy after the battle was won...no one felt any sort of rejoice, for all this battle had brought was death and a pyrrhic victory for the Alliance. Meanwhile in the Western part of Reichland the Yurak Horde immediately splintered into Three Separate Factions warring over the position of Khan with Tachiu holding the Capitol,Ivan stabilizing his home province of Adelhiem after leaving Axony, and Ayrat roaming with a large horde in Central Reichland. Meanwhile the Alliance spent it's time licking its wounds and securing its provinces with peace talks between the Yuraks Hordes most powerful claimant (Taichu) and The Alliance being established...but this was a wasted effort and the war continued. This was the largest loss of life in all of Nara since the Crusade into Norkia (during 1582 A.T.F) and the Largest Battle in all of Reichlands history. It would be forever remembered as "The Battle Heard around Nara" also called "Sargoths Crowned Battle". This battle would serve as a cry for unification to end the blood shed and would be used as an example during the Reichlandian Unification act of 1704 A.T.F as a dark and bloody part of history that "no human or mythical creature should ever have to endure" as said by Statesman Francis Van Pelt. Myths and Legends A few myths and legends have come from the battle as stories passed on have told of many "Strange" and "Unnatural" occurring during the battle and after. One was reported by men on both sides during an engagement in the Central Valley that a man with a large sword looking of barbaric nature but glowing a transparent blue luminescent color with bright white eyes shaking his head in disappointment. Some soldiers said they could even hear his soft and faint voice saying "you are letting him win and he will destroy us all everything..father created..". Some people have said this was Titus while others said it was an Angle from god. Another unusual happening was that it was believed a Dwarf by the name of Dhurin Iron-teeth had participated in the battle on the Alliances side with the legend saying he saved Alexander Clements life. There were also reports of Ice Trollz helping the Yuraks during a skirmish when the Alliances scouting party used one of their caves as a storage base for ammunition driving out the Ice Trollz who lived there. However the most interesting report was found in a journal from a soldier who returned home who had sketched a man in a "Duster coat" with two revolvers and a cowboy hat who called himself "The lone Regulator" was looking for a man that his boss called "Mr Tarkan". In which the soldier called him crazy saying he would be killed before he even got close with the man simply looking at him with a smile and saying "Crazy is a understatement to me pal" before disappearing into a blue light...Furthermore there were strange reports of a dark shadow lurking in the woods before every engagement. Tarkan in his personal journal wrote "The men have been acting very concerned over a dark figure in the Forrest...maybe vampires,maybe Ice Trolls, maybe the dar-" before he could finish his camp came under attack forever leaving what was in the woods a mystery. Finally there where reports of a lone skeleton after the battle standing with blue eyes for days on end starting at a dead body of a child who had lived in the region and was killed during the battle trying to find his way home...